SOTTO51

Description: As the Vancouver landscape is constantly shifting, we ponder what history is lost and forgotten. Through SOTTO 51, we research, remember, and celebrate Block 51, 61, and 71, commonly known as Robson Square, the Vancouver Art Gallery, šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square, and Provincial Law Courts – an area of the unceded Coast Salish territory that is significant to the street dance community and personally to OURO members. With SOTTO 51, we are considering how changes in our urban landscape affect personal memory and cultural amnesia, and how an erased past affects future generations. Through ongoing interviews with the Arthur Erickson Foundation, various dancers, and members of the local community, we rediscover the history of Robson Square and discuss what the future holds for the site.

Running Time: 50 minutes
Choreography: OURO Collective
Costumes: Jean Okada
Stage Manager/Technical Lead: Maria Danysh
Residency: Bridge and Enrich Lives Society

Supported by: Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, City of Vancouver

Performance History:

September 2022: Robson Square - Premiere, Vancouver, BC
December 2022: Anvil Centre, New Westminster, BC
March 2023: BC Movement Arts Tour in Sointula, Albert Bay, Campbell River, BC
May 2023: Della Herman Theatre, Smithers, BC
June 2023: Guelph Dance Festival, Guelph, Ontario

Digital Performance History:

September 2021: Digital online premiere, Vancouver, BC
December 2021: Online excerpt and outreach programming, Smithers, BC

The information below gives you more insights into the research and creation of the work, which started in 2019.

Person in a red shirt and black pants standing outdoors on a paved area with stairs in the background, tilting their head back and looking upward.

A woman dressed in black stands outdoors with her head bowed and arm extended downward, under a bridge or overpass with steps and a few people in the background.

Three people sitting on the ground outdoors, two women and one man, with water bottles and a small speaker between them, engaged in conversation or activity, nearby a glass barrier with an urban background.

Modern building entrance with a large circular glass and metal canopy, sunlight casting shadows on the paved ground.

Phase 1

August/September 2020

Creating and dancing in a community space is unlike any other. During phase 1 we explored how an open public space, such as Robson Square and its surroundings can inform choreography. During this phase OURO worked on developing a duet with collective dancers, Rina Pellerin and Eric Cheung, with co-direction from Maiko Miyauchi and Cristina Bucci. Big thanks to Vitantonio Spinelli for the beautiful photos and to Jeff Hamada for capturing our rehearsal process and behind the scenes footage below.

Dancers: Rina Pellerin and Eric Cheung
Videographer/Edit: Jeff Hamada
Music: Dreamer’s Wake by Rival Consoles
Logo Design: Abi Huynh

*SOTTO 51 Phase 1 Video was filmed prior to the new restrictions put in place by British Columbia’s Provincial Health Officer. Any dancers shown within 6 feet of each other were within the same social bubble at the time.

Modern entrance Robson Square with a circular glass and metal canopy casting a shadow on the tiled ground at a university campus.

Aboriginal Cultural Workshop – October 2020

A cluttered table with jewelry, fabric pieces, and craft supplies, with a woven hat, plant, and fabric doll in the background.

Two women sitting at a table in a conference room, with a projector screen behind them displaying a graphic related to cedar harvesting.

Red circular sign with black text that reads, "When I becomes of the broken hearted," on a wooden easel against a plain wall.

Woman in a retail or craft store standing near display tables with various items, including a fruit bowl, jars, and crafts, near a large window.

The workshop was hosted in the Aboriginal Gathering Place at Emily Carr University and presented by Brenda Crabtree and Connie Watts. It is our mission to create a piece that acknowledges and respects the people, land, and culture that came before us. In this workshop we talked about, Indigenous Canada, history of Canada including residential schools and the potential of intergenerational trauma, resilience of Indigenous communities, role of ally, challenging racism, and the opportunities to contribute to reconciliation.

We are grateful and thankful for the opportunity and to have Brenda and Connie share their knowledge with the collective. We are looking forward to our second workshop in January 2021!

(The new name for the giant open space on the north side of the Vancouver Art Gallery is, šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square. According to the City of Vancouver, it “refers to a place where a cultural gathering occurs such as a wedding, funeral, naming, honouring, or coming of age ceremony”. The name incorporates languages of all three First Nations. Learn how to say the name through this link.)

Phase 2

October/November 2020

Finally bringing all the dancers in a space to share and create was exhilarating.

In 1970, the British Columbia Centre was originally designed to be the tallest building in Vancouver. Fears of the dark shadow the building would cast, led the newly elected party to commission a redesign by Arthur Erickson who turned the building onto its side stretching it across three blocks. Erickson stated: ‘This won’t be a corporate monument. Let’s turn it on its side and let people walk all over it.’

The history of the space/architecture and architect, Arthur Erickson, informs our choreography and introduces themes of opposition, playing with shadow in reference to the building’s original design, working with inversion, inclination, and support as the change in power transforms the building’s redesign. The dancers for the new creation include, Rina Pellerin, Eric Cheung, Shana Wolfe, Ash Cornette, Cristina Bucci, and Maiko Miyauchi, as rehearsal director. Special thanks to Bridge and Enrich Lives Society, Tangible for their support during this phase, and Vitantonio Spinelli for the beautiful photos and video!

Videographer/Edit: Vitantonio Spinelli
Music: A.A.L. (Against All Logic) – For Kennedy
Logo Design: Abi Huynh

*Phase 2 rehearsals were held prior to the new restrictions put in place by British Columbia’s Provincial Health Officer. Any dancers shown within 6 feet of each other were within the same social bubble at the time.

Group of five people lying on their backs with their legs raised against a dark background.

Two people in martial arts uniforms practicing a ground technique on a black mat, with a third person observing in the background.

People practicing acro yoga or partnered gymnastics in a studio with black curtains, with one person balancing on another's hands while two others support in different poses.

Four people lying on the floor in a row with a man sitting up, one person raising their leg, against a black curtain background.

Phase 3

March/May 2021 (Phase 3/4)

OURO Collective began as a handful of dancers celebrating each other’s artistry, sharing ideas, and discovering new ways of moving. To this day, we continue our collaborations with dancers of all genres and artists of different mediums.

This season, we are delighted to work with Abhishek Joshi for our SOTTO 51 Photoshoot. Abhishek combined his incredible design skill and his eye for movement to generate delicate yet powerful virtual glass shapes spiraling around our bodies.

“For the past few years I have been obsessed with ellipses and the ideas of cyclical continuity all around us. Whether it is in natural cycles of life and death or in spiritual and mathematical concepts of zero and nothingness. When the collaboration with OURO came up, it felt like the perfect project to explore this. Especially as OURO’s name also embraces the elliptical form of the serpent eating its own tail.

I created an ouroboros of sorts, made of virtual glass, orbiting the dancers’ forms. I wanted to create a visual that almost looked like trails of motion but without a start or end. A vortex of energy encapsulating the movement of the dancer or being created by it.”

📷 - Abhishek Joshi

An artist or dancer poses with large metallic hoop-shaped rings around her, on a gray background.

A man performing a dance move with large metallic hoops swirling around him against a gray background.

We asked designer Abi Huynh to create a type for our show and we could not be more excited about it! We loved it so much that we had it printed on our new totes. Priory graciously provided some stunning clothing for us to move in. The silky smooth fabric and structured shapes were the perfect combination for this collaboration.

A woman with dark hair in a bun performs a dance move with artistic metallic hoops hovering above her shoulders against a plain background.

A woman with long black hair in a light-colored blouse interacts with a large, metallic, swirling structure around her.

A person with short dark hair, wearing a brown jacket, is posing with their hands near their face against a gray background. Silver, reflective, abstract ribbons intertwine around them, with white text overlay reading "ourso sotto 51" and stylized quotation marks.

During our last phase of creation we focused on refining the three acts of the work, along with working with our collaborators, Tangible. Tangible is once again providing their amazing installation work in the piece and provided us with a beautiful space to film our digital presentation. Below is an overview of the motivation for the three acts in the work.

Act 1: Creating and dancing in a community space is unlike any other. During phase 1 we explored how an open public space, such as Robson Square and its surroundings can inform choreography.

Act 2: The history of the space/architecture and architect, Arthur Erickson, informs our choreography and introduces themes of opposition, playing with shadow in reference to the building’s original design, working with inversion, inclination, and support as the change in power in the government transforms the building’s redesign.

Act 3: Robson Square has forever been a central hub for gathering. Our choreography explores themes of group mentality and connection as we reflect on past celebrations and protests that have taken place in the area

The digital presentation SOTTO 51 premiered on September 30th, 2021 and the live performance was held at Robson Square on September 17th, 2022.

Trailer credits:

Trailer: Jeff Hamada / Vitantonio Spinelli
Editing: Vitantonio Spinelli
Installation Art: Tangible
Music: “Aleph2 “Max Cooper
Studio Space: Tangible
Dancers: Cristina Bucci, Ash Cornette, Eric Cheung, Rina Pellerin, Shana Wolfe
Understudy: Anna Martynova Bernard